The Franchisee Behind Papa Johns' 6,000th Store Files Chapter 11

Papa Johns liked telling Yasir Hussain's story. He started as a dishwasher, ran stores for years, opened his first franchise in 2019 and, in early 2025, opened the chain's 6,000th restaurant, the company wrote on its stories blog.

"For me, it was never about the title," he said then. "It was about doing my job to the best of my ability. I wanted to be the best dishwasher in the company."

On Nov. 9, his company, Papa ZHS LLC, filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, designated as a Subchapter V small business case, a faster track for smaller debtors. Four affiliates filed alongside it, among them Papa ZHS Cleveland. The Cleveland store he was building when the company celebrated him is listed on the petition, TheStreet reported. The petition lists $100,000 to $500,000 in assets against $1 million to $10 million in liabilities.

Then there's the creditor list. TheStreet, which first reported the filing, counted Itria Ventures at $909,000 on three loans, the Small Business Administration at more than $811,000 on two, Bizcap at $275,000, CFG at $270,000, Ascentium Capital at more than $259,000 and Balboa Capital at more than $194,000. That is six lenders, several holding more than one note, behind a 13-store pizza operator. L'Express Franchise also tallied more than $2.9 million in unsecured claims.

Growth financed that way works while sales climb. Papa Johns' sales are not climbing. North America comparable sales fell 8.3% in the third quarter, and 8.5% at franchised stores, Pizza Marketplace reported. The chain has closed 239 restaurants worldwide this year, 146 of them in North America, on the way to about 300 closures by the end of 2027. It launched a turnaround plan called Unbox Better on Nov. 5, the same week it announced that franchisees had voted to rebuild local ad co-ops.

It has been a busy month in bankruptcy court for franchisees. A 30-unit Denny's operator filed days earlier, and that brand moved fast to line up buyers from inside its system.

Chapter 11 lets Hussain keep his stores open while he reorganizes. Whether Papa Johns wants all 13 of them open is a separate question, and the company has already said how many it plans to close.